GAME REPORT

Greece Stave Off Netherlands

Zoi Dimitrakou provided all her experience for Greece, leading all scoring with 22 points

Greece have overcome a slow start to get home over a determined Netherlands outfit 61-59 in their EuroBasket Women 2015 First Qualification Round encounter on Friday night.

Greece trailed by as many as nine within the opening five minutes of the contest and took nearly a further 10 minutes before they were able to grab the lead - which they then held onto for the remainder of the game, despite the best efforts of a fast-finishing Dutch outfit.

Leading by nine points (54-45) on a second free-throw from Pelagia Papamichail with 04:19 remaining, it appeared that the Greeks had the game in the bag.

However, when Maaike Klein sunk a three-pointer with under three minutes remaining and Chatilla van Grinsven followed it up with four points from the charity stripe in less than a minute, the Netherlands were back within four with 70 seconds to play.

Klein then gave Greece more cause for concern when she made a pair before hitting a jump shot with nine seconds left, putting her team within a point.

However, the experienced Zoi Dimitrakou brought up her 22nd point of the night with a free-throw at the other end, opening the gap back to two.

Leonie Kooij had a chance to win the game late but her three was off the mark, allowing the Greeks - one of the favoured teams to win direct qualification to EuroBasket Women 2015 - to let out a sigh of relief.

No Greek players joined Dimitrakou in double figures whilst van Grinsven and Klein both picked up 19 for the Dutch as the former also added nine rebounds.

Greece will be hoping for a more convincing result on Saturday when they play hosts Luxembourg, whilst the Netherlands face up to Estonia.

COACH QUOTES

Quotes Greece vs. Netherlands

Greece Head Coach George Dikeoulakos

"In the beginning they were shooting at a high percentage level then we changed our defence and managed that way to make their shots more difficult. By the way, we were shooting better and got back in the game."

Netherlands Head Coach Meindert van Veen

"During a large part of the game we were not able to find the way under the basket, even though we were taller. At the end our problem was that we do not have enough experience at this level."

Greece Player Zoi Dimitrakou

"I think that we had a lot of problems at this moment in defence and in offence. Later in the game we found our offence come back and we got back in the game. We controlled the game more or less but at the end we made a few wrong decisions in offence and let them come back."

Netherlands Player Chatilla Van Grinsven

"At the end with 10 seconds left and ball possession we took our last shot too early. So we could not tie the game anymore. However we may be proud of our performance against such a team."

COACH QUOTES

Quotes Greece vs. Netherlands

Greece Head Coach George Dikeoulakos

"In the beginning they were shooting at a high percentage level then we changed our defence and managed that way to make their shots more difficult. By the way, we were shooting better and got back in the game."

Netherlands Head Coach Meindert van Veen

"During a large part of the game we were not able to find the way under the basket, even though we were taller. At the end our problem was that we do not have enough experience at this level."

Greece Player Zoi Dimitrakou

"I think that we had a lot of problems at this moment in defence and in offence. Later in the game we found our offence come back and we got back in the game. We controlled the game more or less but at the end we made a few wrong decisions in offence and let them come back."

Netherlands Player Chatilla Van Grinsven

"At the end with 10 seconds left and ball possession we took our last shot too early. So we could not tie the game anymore. However we may be proud of our performance against such a team."